Statehouse Insider: Dropouts, endorsements and pensions, oh my

Friday

Jan 22, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 22, 2010 at 10:22 PM

DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom dropped out of the Republican race for governor Friday morning and threw his support to former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan. Insert your own joke here as you try to quantify that support.

Doug Finke

DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom dropped out of the Republican race for governor Friday morning and threw his support to former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan.

Insert your own joke here as you try to quantify that support.

The decision also pretty much resolves any doubt about whether Schillerstrom would live up to his promise to serve only one term.

---

Holmes and Watson. Batman and Robin. Starsky and Hutch. Pinky and the Brain.

Throughout history there have been great duos in popular literature, entertainment, super-herodom and whatever. About to join the list, from the world of politics, is Dillard and Edgar.

That's Dillard as in Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, a Republican candidate for governor. And it's Edgar as in former Gov. Jim Edgar, also a Republican. (Did you know that Dillard once worked as Edgar's chief of staff? Bet you haven't heard that one before).

Some of you may be confused and thinking that Dillard and Edgar are running as a team, just as Andy McKenna and Sen. Matt Murphy are running together. That's because it's almost impossible to hear the name Dillard without also hearing the name Edgar. Dillard makes sure that happens.

However, Edgar is not running for anything this year. He endorsed Dillard and Dillard is riding that endorsement for all it is worth. Sometimes the ride can stretch the heroic accomplishments a bit.

"In 1994, our administration, the Edgar administration, made (House Speaker) Mike Madigan Minority Leader Madigan," Dillard told the State Journal-Register editorial board last week. It was a reference to the national Republican landslide that year which, among other things, resulted in a GOP-controlled Illinois House. For the record, Dillard left his post as Edgar's chief-of-staff in 1993.

Just for fun, the next time you hear Dillard at an extended radio or TV interview or at a debate, try to guess how many times he will work "Jim Edgar" or simply "Edgar" into the conversation. Set an over/under number and see how close you come. Hint: Don't set the number too low.

---

Among other things, the candidate endorsement process has run amok this campaign season.

It's probably because of the large numbers of candidates running for statewide offices. It's compounded by the large number of candidates running for lieutenant governor, an office with no real duties, no real issues and no real need for being. Given that, one of the few ways to differentiate the candidates is by their endorsements.

What's happened is that just about any endorsement a candidate for anything receives merits a news release. While the mayor of Marion endorsing McKenna for governor may be big news in the greater metropolitan Marion area, it probably won't be moving the needle much in DuPage County. Similarly, it's hard to imagine Marion Republicans getting much excited about some township official in DuPage choosing a candidate.

Every candidate has done it to some degree, but maybe our favorite so far is Comptroller Dan Hynes, who is running in the gubernatorial primary against fellow Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn. His campaign put out a release of endorsements last week that included William “Dock” Walls, a perennial candidate for office and most recently a Democratic candidate for governor who withdrew as his candidacy was challenged by Quinn supporters.

---

The Illinois Policy Institute tossed its two cents into the debate about how to deal with the state's crushing pension debt.

The issue can be resolved, the institute said, without a tax increase by following some specific steps. The first step is to freeze state spending at current levels for three years. No increase for schools, no increase for health care, no increase for anything. That will free up money that can be used to pay down pension debt.

Certainly the state's pension debt is a major problem that needs to be addressed and too often is shoved to the background. But a plan that calls for freezing state spending at current levels for three years in order to pay off pension debt? Makes you wonder if medical marijuana had any role.

---

In the Republican race for U.S. Senate, Patrick Hughes recently blasted U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park for being "extraordinarily moderate to liberal." Ouch, that's gotta hurt. In today's political climate the last thing you want is to be known as an extreme moderate.